


We're Family Now

by pikablob



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Acceptance, Adoption, Angst, Bad Parent Camila Noceda, Families of Choice, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nbphobia, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Luz Noceda, She/Her and They/Them Pronouns for Luz Noceda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22435204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikablob/pseuds/pikablob
Summary: When Luz's mother refuses to accept her for who she is, Eda and King become the family she desperately needs.
Relationships: Eda & Luz Noceda, King & Luz Noceda
Comments: 105
Kudos: 735
Collections: Eda and Luz are family





	We're Family Now

Eda wasn’t born yesterday. She had been around a long time, and years of shilling human nick-nacks and evading authorities had taught her how to read someone at a glance. So when Luz came down for breakfast that day it didn’t take her long to notice the human’s usual spark was missing. Luz was surprisingly quiet, and when she spoke the trademark energy in her voice was replaced by something clearly forced.

Eda didn’t want to force the issue. She could allow Luz her secrets; heck, the witch had enough of her own, and she trusted Luz to come to her if anything was really wrong. So she held her tongue and went about her day as normal. She had a lot of potion orders that still needed brewing, so she headed down to her little alchemical lab, tucked away in the corner of the Owl House basement, eager to set to work and take her mind off her growing concern.

It was a small, circular room; an old fireplace with a cauldron sat in the centre, while a stone gargoyle in the shape of an owl loomed from the far wall. Dusty cabinets lined the edges of the chamber, filled with glass jars of all shapes and sizes. She snapped her fingers; at once the fire alighted, a crackling green blaze lighting up the room.

She stepped up to the cauldron, rummaging in her pocket to find her list of waiting orders. She glanced down it, before looking over her various ingredient cabinets and frowning as she took in the sight. In the firelight she could see that most of the jars were empty, with only a few basic ingredients still in stock. She barely had enough for basic medicine, she realised, let alone the complex and high demand potions like Vatter’s Anbaric Growth or Morton’s Transformations.

She rolled her eyes and gave a frustrated sigh, realising another trip to the market was unavoidable if she wanted to get all her orders filled. She stepped away from the fire, snapping her fingers again to cut off the magic keeping it alight. Darkness flooded the room behind her, the owl statue’s eyes glinting for a moment.

Eda headed back upstairs briskly, not wanting to waste a moment. Grabbing her things only took a second thanks to magic; her hands went through the familiar motions as she reached the ground floor landing, and her staff and bag came obediently flying along. She took both in hand and headed for the door, only to stop at the living room threshold.

Luz was already in there, sitting on the couch and buried in her book. But she didn’t seem to really be reading; her eyes seemed glazed-over, unfocused, and her feet alternately tapped the floor. Eda frowned, then stepped into the room.

“Hey, kid,” she greeted. Luz jumped, stiffening as she looked up.

“Oh, uh, hey Eda.”

“I’m heading out for a bit,” the witch explained.

“Oh.” Luz’s face fell. “How come?”

“I’ve got some errands I need to run.” Eda held up the empty bag in her hand. “I’m all out of potion components: pretty much everything from willowbark to moonstone needs restocking if I’m gonna fill more orders.”

“Okay,” Luz said quietly. “How long for?”

“An hour or two.” Eda shrugged. “You be a good girl and watch the house while I’m gone, okay?” Luz looked visibly uncomfortable as she listened, but she nodded anyway. Eda frowned, feeling the worry grow in her gut, but turned towards the door.

“Wait!” Luz said suddenly. Eda turned back and she seemed to shrink back into the sofa, her whole body tense. “Can I talk to you for a minute? Before you go?”

“I guess it can wait,” Eda said, tone softening. “Why?”

“I want to tell you something,” Luz began, “About me.” She set her book down, getting uneasily to her feet.

“About your apprenticeship?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” she said quickly. She paused, swallowing, and when she spoke again her voice was guarded. “You know how I don’t really fit in at home? I’ve been thinking about that for a while, about how certain things just didn’t feel right and how I’m not who everyone wants me to be and how I really feel, and I did some research and I realised something…” She trailed off again, taking a moment to collect herself. “I’m nonbinary.”

Eda blinked, not entirely sure what that even meant. She could tell it was important to Luz, but the word itself was completely foreign to her. Was this some kind of human thing?

“You’re gonna have to explain what that means,” she said, cringing internally at how blunt she sounded.

“For me it means I’m not really a girl,” Luz replied, shifting uncomfortably, “But I’m not a boy either. I’m somewhere in-between. I’ve known for a long time, at least kinda, but I didn’t have a word for it until recently.”

“Oh,” Eda paused, before giving a gentle smile, “Is that what’s got you all worked up? Telling me?” Luz nodded, uncertainty glinting in her eyes. “Well I don’t know what you humans are like about gender,” the witch reassured, “But it’s no big deal here on the Boiling Isles. You really think you could fit everyone here into a gender binary?” Luz’s eyes went wide, relief and joy glinting within them.

“No?”

“Exactly,” Eda said firmly, “Even the Warden and his cronies have to concede that one.” That earned a giggle from Luz, and the witch felt a growing warmth as the last of the tension between them dissipated.

“A lot of humans are really weird about it,” Luz explained, the strain gone from her voice, “A lot of them think you can only be whatever you’re assigned at birth, and even the ones that don’t aren’t always super accepting of nonbinary stuff. I didn’t think you would be like that,” she quickly clarified, “But it just makes it hard to talk about, you know?”

“I get it, kid,” Eda said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone, “But you don’t have to worry about any of that here, okay?” Luz didn’t reply verbally; instead she reached out and pulled the witch into a tight hug. Eda squirmed a little at the touch, still not used to physical affection, but she wasn’t about to complain.

“So can I just get some things straight?” she asked instead. “Just so I don’t mess up?”

“Sure.” Luz loosened her grip, stepping back.

“Do you want me to stop using ‘she’?” the witch asked. Luz shrugged.

“I’m okay with she or they,” she explained. “I don’t think I have a preference.”

“Okay,” Eda smiled, “Who else knows?”

“No-one yet,” Luz looked down, “You’re the first person to know. I’m gonna tell King next.” She paused for a second, before continuing. “Thanks, Eda.”

“No,” Eda shook her head, “Thank you, for trusting me.” Luz beamed, and the witch returned a gentle smile. A moment of comfortable silence passed. “Now, if that’s all, I do still have shopping to do.”

“Can I come?” Luz asked, giving her best puppy-eyes.

“Not happening, human,” Eda frowned. “The one thing humans are wanted for in the Isles is alchemical ingredients; I can’t afford to lose a supplier cause I have to get rough to stop them trying to grind you up.”

“But-”

“Nope,” she said firmly. Luz deflated, the smile falling from her face, and it sent an uncomfortable stab of guilt through Eda. “But you can help me brew when I get back,” she offered. That would be harmless, surely. Immediately the joy returned to the teen’s face.

“I can’t wait!” she grinned.

“I’ll try not to take too long, then.”

* * *

Gathering all the necessary supplies took longer than expected. One of her best suppliers had gone underground after a bad run-in with the Warden, so it had taken some time to track him down and get what she needed. But she had made sure to buy enough that she wouldn’t need to go back for a while; she could make enough of Morton’s Fifth for a whole village, with a little set aside for Luz should she ever need it, and she had so much ground moonstone she doubted she would ever run out of Vatter’s Anbaric.

“Good trip?” Hooty asked as she landed, stepping off her staff and letting it fly into her hand.

“Just let me in, Hooty,” she said bluntly, “Oh, and I need you to take that sign off the bathroom door. Just throw it in the trash or something. Hurry up.”

“Alright, alright,” he muttered angrily, “Hoot!” He opened his mouth wide and she stepped through, her bag floating in behind her.

Luz wasn’t in the living room anymore; King had taken her spot on the sofa, curled up and snoring quietly. Beside him Eda could see her book, left closed, and on top of it the weird human-box that the teen called her ‘phone’. Now that was weird; Luz normally carried it everywhere. She wasn’t likely to just leave it behind.

“Luz! I’m home!” Eda called out. King jumped awake at the sound. There was no reply, even after she waited a minute, and she felt a mix of confusion and concern at the silence. Had Luz tried to start brewing without her? Or had the teen gone out unannounced? Eda turned to King, not sure what else to do. “Hey, have you seen Luz anywhere?”

“Nope.” He shrugged, head tilting. “We talked a while ago, but I haven’t seen them since-” The phone beside him buzzed. He let out a squeal and leapt backwards in surprise, smacking his head into the armrest.

“Oww,” he complained, rubbing his skull with a claw, before realising Eda was still looking at him. He leapt onto his hind feet. “You saw nothing!”

“Yeah, yeah.” She walked over, intrigued, and picked up the little device. The front was lit up white, displaying black writing in a little grey bubble. It was clearly the tail end of a message, the bubble and letters cutting off abruptly at the top of the device.

“Should you be looking at that?” King asked. She ignored him, squinting at the thing as she tried to remember how Luz used it. As far as she had seen the teen just used her fingers, so Eda awkwardly used one of hers to try and pull down the message. Sure enough it moved, revealing a second grey bubble, then a group of them in blue, and then a final small one in grey at the top; it seemed that was where the conversation started.

“ _How was your first week at camp?_ ” read the first bubble.

“ _It’s been really great!_ ” said the reply, this one in blue. “ _I know it sounds crazy but I’ve made a few new friends! And there’s this one woman named Eda who’s really helped me settle in._ ” A second blue bubble added. “ _She’s one of the councillors._ ”

That was definitely Luz’s writing; even if she had no idea what a ‘councillor’ was, Eda couldn’t help but smile. But who was writing the rest of the messages? She looked over the surface of the device, only to notice the word ‘Mom’ written at the top of the white space. The next blue message was also addressed to the same, so there was no doubt.

“ _Hey mom,_ ” it read, “ _I need to tell you something. I’ve known for a long time, but I’ve only recently found a word for it and I’m really glad I did. I’m not a girl like everyone thinks; I’m nonbinary._ ” Eda paused, realising just how personal the message likely was, before deciding to keep reading. “ _It means I’m somewhere in between male and female, at least for me. I know this doesn’t really change anything; I’m okay with she/her or they/them for pronouns and I like my name so you won’t have to call me anything different. But it just feels right and I wanted you to know._ ”

Eda looked down at the reply, the first of the two grey bubbles she’d seen before, and felt her blood run cold.

“ _This is exactly why you had to go to camp,_ ” the message said. “ _You can’t just pick some made-up identity and expect special treatment. You’re a girl, you’re my daughter, and I’m sorry but nothing’s going to change that. Life isn’t like your books; you can’t just choose a gender that doesn’t exist._ ” Everything fell into place at once. Something twisted uncomfortably in Eda’s gut, a cold resentment forming. She read on.

“ _Mija, I’m sorry if that sounded harsh,_ ” the next message began, “ _I just got off-shift. But please understand I’m just trying to help you understand what’s best for you. Your creativity is great but if you tie your whole identity to something fictional then you’re going to get hurt in real life. I just want to make sure that doesn’t happen._ ”

Eda felt sick. She dropped the device in disgust, glaring at it as it fell back onto the sofa. She had seen first-hand how important this was to Luz, how worried she was about being accepted. How could this woman say something like that in response?

“Not good?” King asked. Eda shook her head.

“Her mom doesn’t accept her,” she said. No doubt that was why the teen had run off. She had to find her, _now_ , and there was only one person she could think to ask _._ “Hooty!”

With a sound like stretching rubber the familiar round face burst through an open window. The bathroom sign was still in his beak, and irritation shone in his dark eyes. He dropped the thing on the living room floor with a clatter of wood.

“What?” he squawked.

“Did Luz leave the house today?”

“No,” he answered. “She’s in her room.” Eda blinked. “What? I saw her when I went to move the sign.”

“Okay.” She took off for the stairs.

“I don’t even get a thanks?” his voice echoed behind her. “Jeez, hoot!” She ignored him and hurried on, taking the steps two at a time. Ahead she could see Luz’s closet-turned-room; the door was shut.

As she stepped up to it she became aware of a muffled sound from beyond the door. She paused to listen, and felt a tug at her heart as she realised what she was hearing was quiet crying. She didn’t wait a moment longer, stepping up and knocking on the old wood.

“Luz?” The crying stopped for a moment, replaced with silence, but no reply came. “I’m coming in.” Eda raised a hand, giving the door just enough of a magic kick to push it open. Beyond the room stretched, dimly lit by its solitary window, and in the square of light it cast was the hunched form of Luz.

She was curled up, knees pulled against her chin and arms around her shins. Her hood was pulled up, fake ears raised, and she was shivering. Slowly she looked around; her eyes were red from crying, and tear-tracks marred her face. Eda approached gingerly, not entirely sure what to do but determined to comfort her.

“I saw the messages,” she said quietly. “Your mother has no right to say stuff like that.” It didn’t seem to help; Luz still didn’t say anything, only sniffling as she sat there. Eda felt at a loss, only for an idea to worm its way into her mind. She eased herself down into a sitting position and reached out, gently wrapping her bony arms around the teen.

Luz tensed for a second, then relaxed at the touch, leaning against the witch’s body. Her sniffling quieted down, and finally, slowly, she started to speak.

“I thought she’d accept me,” she sobbed. “I- I know sometimes I take things too far, like with that wizard, or the snakes, b- but this isn’t like that! This is who I am!”

“I know,” Eda soothed. “If she can’t accept who you are then that’s her problem; your identity isn’t up to her.”

“Mhmm,” Luz murmured, snuggling up against the witch. She rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe the tears away. She was quiet for a moment, somewhere deep in thought, before she spoke again. “I don’t ever wanna go back,” she said, voice quiet but filled with conviction. “I’ve only known you and King for a week but I feel more at home here than I ever did on Earth.”

“You can stay as long as you like,” Eda reassured, tightening her grip in what she hoped was a reassuring way. Luz let out a deep breath, finally quieting.

“Thanks.”

“Luz! Your box is doing weird stuff!” They both looked over to see King sprinting in on his hind legs, carrying the phone in his claws. It was loudly vibrating.

The moment was shattered. Luz squirmed out of Eda’s arms just as he reached them, stumbling and dropping the thing right in front of her. From behind Eda could see the front had turned a pale grey, with a portrait of a human woman and the word ‘mom’ in big white letters. Below were two circles, one red and one green.

For a moment Luz seemed paralysed. After a moment’s deliberation she picked it up, before gingerly thumbing the green circle. She held it up to her ear and spoke in a shaky voice.

“Hey mom.”

“ _Ay dios mío_ ,” came the reply, the voice tinny and distorted by the phone’s speaker, but still loud enough for Eda and King to hear. It sounded strangely relieved more than anything else. “Mija, where are you?! I called the camp to let them know about your identity issue and they said you haven’t even enrolled! There’s nobody there called Eda!”

“Mom, y-you called the camp?” Luz’s voice cracked, fresh tears bubbling up. “How could you?”

“Mija listen to me,” her mother’s voice cut back in, “Where are you?”

“Mom…”

“Please, Luz, tell me what’s going on?!” Slowly she lowered the phone, blinking back the fresh tears. She opened her mouth to say something, but Eda could tell she was struggling to get it out. She glanced helplessly at the witch, before gingerly offering the device to her. “Luz?!”

Eda took it, not needing to be told what to do to understand, and held the thing up as best she could.

“This is Eda,” she said bluntly, not bothering to hide the resentment in her voice, “The Owl Witch.”

“Who are you?” Luz’s mother demanded. “What have you done with my daughter?!”

“She isn’t your daughter,” Eda replied firmly. “She chose to stay with me, here on the Boiling Isles, and now I see why. So long as you don’t accept her she’s never going to want to go back. If you ever try and contact her again I will find out, and you don’t want to know what I’ll do.” She didn’t give the woman time to reply; she lowered the device and tapped the red circle, nail clicking against the glass surface. Her intuition proved right, and the display flashed back to the white message-board.

Luz quickly snatched the thing back, fumbling with the buttons around the side. The front went dark, the thing deactivated, and she let out a pained breath and set it down on the floor.

“S-she told them,” she sobbed. “She wanted them t-to change me, to make me ‘normal’. Why can’t she just love who I am?”

Eda opened her arms and the teen just slumped forwards into the embrace. She broke down, tears flowing freely as Eda tried to soothe her. King waddled over, not quite sure what to do, and gently began rubbing Luz’s side with an open claw.

“Shhhh,” Eda soothed. Seeing the teen hurt like this made her heart ache, and she could tell King felt the same. For a moment they just stayed like that, letting Luz get it all out, until finally her sobs grew quiet and her arms reached up, gingerly returning the embrace. Gently Eda leant down and kissed her forehead.

“You never have to go back there,” she said gently, “Not unless you want to.” Luz shook her head.

“ _Te quiero_ ,” she whispered, just loud enough for the pair to hear. Though Eda didn’t understand the words, she could tell the meaning behind them well enough. Finally Luz pulled away, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes.

“Looks like we’re family now,” she observed, her voice hoarse from crying.

“Sure are,” King declared, clambering onto her lap. The ghost of a smile came upon her face.

“Your mother probably thinks I kidnapped you,” Eda half-joked. Luz nodded.

“You kinda did,” she said, rubbing one arm awkwardly, “You wouldn’t let me leave until I helped you. But I’m glad you did. If I’d just gone straight back to Earth, then I don’t know what I’d be doing right now.”

“Don’t dwell on it,” Eda reassured. “Forget Earth; you’ve got the greatest witch in the Boiling Isles and the King of Demons as your family now!”

“Yeah,” Luz gave a watery smile. It was small, uncertain, but filled with hope. “I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> 'Te quiero' = 'I love you' in Spanish'
> 
> This fic has art now!! Thanks so much to [somajesticdonki](https://therealsomajesticdonki.tumblr.com/),
> 
> and [tantum-tenebris](https://tantum-tenebris.tumblr.com/)!!


End file.
